Traces of Time

1 of 5 pieces, cross stitch on linen
170 cm x 270 cm
2002/2003

Spain

Novel by Nils Viga Hausken

Walking on a warm afternoon in the north west corner of Spain, I was just ambling with no special destination in mind. It was a Saturday and a drowsy, weekend ambience pervaded the streets. I passed by a park where tidy flowerbeds and neatly trimmed bushes and hedges were surrounded by trees.
Set into a wall was a large marble block with a delicately chiselled inscription. I drew closer in order to see what was inscribed there. It was a memorial to an English hero of the sea who had died several centuries before. I began to read the lengthy commemoration.

Few and short were the prayers we said,
And we spoke not a word of sorrow;
But we steadfastly gaz’d on the face of the dead,
As we bitterly thought of the morrow

As I read the grieving verses, it was as if the words formed a very life. Despite the day being hot, I shivered. Tears rendered me momentarily blind.

Translated by Jane Power